The adventures of Jonathan O'Neil
by skipper 1337
Summary: We all know that Jonathan  O'Neill was promoted for his heroic deeds on the battlefield. These are the tales of those deeds done in the terrible fight against the replicon enemy.  ON HIATUS due to an indefinete hospital stay
1. Chapter 1

Several things first, before you start reading this story. To those who have me on author alert and see this, if you have not read them yet, then do so now. For to understand this story, **The Emperor works in weird ways** and **Of Wraiths and Bolters**, both by the fantastic author _he who fell from grace_ (with the excellent beta and input of _Ark C'thuul_) have to been read (and in that order mind you!). Yes, I know they are long. The EWWW clocks in at 25 chapters and not quite 120,000 words. OWaB is even longer, with 24 chapters so far and a staggering 195,000 words so far. Still they are both worth the time spent reading them. They are well written, have a nice twisted sense of humour and for Warhammer 40k, they are not that grimdark (which probably is because of the SG-verse). My advice to you is to make yourself a nice hot cup of tea/hot chocolate or even coffee if you must, make yourself comfortable in front of your computer and start reading and prepare yourself for a grand time!

Secondly, I would like to thank he who fell from grace, as it is because of his vast imagination and creation of this universe, that I am writing this side story to his epic, allowing me to fill in some of the gaps and those details in his story which he did not describe. I feel honoured and quite proud too in a way, to announce that YES! THIS STORY HAS BEEN AUTHOR APPROVED!. He even edited a few things, but those are minor.

Anyway, I hope that this story satisfies some of the urges of those who are the avid readers and fans of OWaB and serves as a snack to pass the time until the epic finale is out.

Thirdly, to all readers: Remember, reviews are nice and encourage the author to write more. Also criticism, especially of the constructive kind, is allowed and encouraged. Only, please do not flame, if you do not like the story then either stop reading, or just say so in your review, but then please give a reason for your dislike. Also, I do not dislike anonymous reviews or reviewers who are not registered at , but please remember registering takes two minutes at most, and it gives me the chance to answer your review personally.

That is all, and no enjoy the first chapter of **the adventures of Jonathan O'Neill**.

Edit: I will up the story rating if it is needed but the first chapter still rates a T. If a later chapter rates an M (as it probably will) the it will be changed, but for now a T.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Introductions and beginnings**

Hanoth had never been an important world before the coming of the Second Imperium of Man. True the Goa'uld had been there, and the planet seemingly had a few Naquadah mines which yielded just enough to keep the Goa'uld interested. There were also a few other mines for several other precious materials such as gold or silver but once again, they yielded just enough to attract the Goa'uld and keep them interested enough in the planet to keep a small garrison there.

This all changed with the coming of the Second Imperium of Man.

After the battle of Bellut a small task force consisting of three Terran Defenders, their fighter complements and a full two regiment of I.G.L. with attached tanks, walkers and artillery pieces had descended upon the planet.

The resultant battle had been over very quickly, the few Jaffa putting up only a token resistance, before being forced to surrender. The double-headed Aquila had been hoisted over the main spire of the fortress-palace from which the Goa'uld had controlled this world, a new garrison installed, along with a few upgrades to the fortress's defensive capability such a new quartet of heavy Lascannon and a dozen medium Lascannon as well as heavy machine-guns such as the M2 Browing mounted on a bipod, grenade launchers and flame turrets. They also installed a new shield pylon in the midst of the fortress giving them even more defensive capabilities.

But this was all standard, as the Imperium regularly fortified taken over fortresses, especially if the planet, as was the case in Hanoth, could easily be classified as a high order Agri-world.

Seeing the potential the world had, the Second Imperium immediately began bringing in machines from Terra to increase the yield of the farms on Hanoth.

That was until the Orilla class Battleship _Dread Wolf_ arrived over Hanoth on its shakedown cruise, to deliver another batch of I-301s to the planet's fortress. On board was the Asgard Asir and he upon entering orbit around the planet used the _Dread Wolf_'s advanced sensor package to do a thorough scan of the planet. What they found astonished them.

Hanoth was a goldmine.

On the southern continent massive deposits of gold, silver, titanium, chrome as well as several large iron deposits and other metals were discovered. But it was on the northern continent that the true prize was found. In the area around the capital city of the planet, the Asgard sensors found more iron in great quantities as well as many other rather important materials. But all of these finds paled to the five massive and great Naquadah veins, each at least as big or even bigger than the one named motherlode, as well as dozens of smaller veins. There were also several big Trinium veins and more importantly several Neutronium veins.

True these new deposits were mostly underground and would have to be accessed via mine shafts which in some cases would reach up to over a mile underground, but the technology for that existed, namely on Terra, and it could be shipped here and installed.

Which is exactly what happened.

Within a few weeks several mines had been opened up and were being driven into the ground.

But not only mines were created, no Hanoth, that had before been classified as a potential high-class Agri-world, was now to be transformed into a mining and forge world of the highest order. The world was now classified as a world that had to be defended at all costs.

Not only because of the abundance of metals to be found there. Not even because of the massive deposits of Naquadah and Trinium that were to be found on the planet, and which already would have elevated the world to one of high status due to the importance of those two metals.

No the find that eclipsed all was the large source of Neutronium to be found on the planet. Neutronium was what made the planet so valuable, as it was the staple building material for human form Replicators. And those would have even without the addition of Necron technology and the terrifying metal named Necrodermis added to their construction been terrible opponents. But now with the fusion of the Necrons and the Replicators and the birth of the Replicon race, any newly constructed human form Replicator would be remade into a Necron immortal, only with the added protection that the Replicator cells offered to explosive weaponry. As such the world of Hanoth was declared a fortress world with a tithe Grade 1, or in the term of the Imperium Exactis Extremis , one that had to be held at all costs.

Within two months the world of Hanoth had undergone a radical transformation. The capital, Trilath City, was ringed by a large defensive wall, just as the other six, soon to be, major cities were. Over two dozen mines had already been driven into the ground and metals were being mined at an astonishing pace. Survivors of evacuated planets that had been lost to the Replicon advance and had thus been subjected to Exterminatus had been shipped to Hanoth, immensely swelling the population and being set to work in the mines. But not only had mines been opened, no foundries and factories producing weapons, ammunition, parts for space ships, fighters and tanks had also been erected to process the mined ore and turn it into everything the Second Imperium needed to keep the war machine up and running. With the help of added Asgard Neutrino Ion generators Adamantium was being made, utilizing the resources at hand. A massive network of high-speed train highways was constructed that connected the cities with each other, and from them poured the processed metal, manufactured parts, weapons, munitions, tanks and harvested food in vast quantities –it was still also classified as a class two Agri-world too- over these newly constructed highways into Trilath City, where a large space port had been constructed, including several vast ring transporters which sent a never ending stream of parts up into orbit where orbital shipyards were being erected, while those docks already built were already hard at work building new ships for the Imperium's fleet, or where new freighters from Hebredia docked to take the newly made weapons, ammunition, tanks and food and distributed it where it was needed in the Imperium.

Of course, with the planet's importance growing, so did the military might sent to keep control of it and keep the planet defended. The main fortress had already been expanded and given more weapons such as heavy Lascannon, medium Lascannon and due to the nature of the threat which were the Replicons, projectile weaponry of all sizes had been added as well and a bigger shield pylon with more power was erected in the fortress's midst to project from overly large siege pieces. But this was not all that happened. Several more fortresses were being constructed, each one bristling with an abundance of deadly weapons and each was given a shield pylon to protect it further. But erecting fortresses was not everything that had happened.

As the planet had been declared a fortress world that had to be held at all costs, the planet had not only been fortified with several new fortresses protecting the cities and mines so vital to the Imperium's war machine, no they were also given massive reinforcements of I.G.L.

Each regiment of I.G.L. is composed of two battalions of infantry and a attached train that is composed of the attached light artillery and light armour pieces which were unofficially classes as the third battalion of the regiment, though of course in reality such a classification was impossible due to the different natures of the attachments being either vehicles or artillery pieces. As such they were classified as 1st to 4th Coy Armour Xth regiment attached, and the 1st to 4th Coy Artillery Xth regiment attached.

Even though the I.G.L is heavily standardized with all infantry regiments having the same layout and added armour and artillery support, the necessities of war had forced the IGL to diversify a bit.

As such the I.G.L. infantry was not only given Lasguns, which had proved only marginally effective against Authen Replicons, but quite effective when employed en masse to literally vaporise and burn away the Necrodermis of Neo Replicons and Immortals, but projectile weapons as well. As such any regiment engaging the Replicon forces was also equipped with P-90s for the standard infantry and scouts, while the elite troops of the 1st company, the grenadier company were equipped with the HK- G36 assault rifle. Snipers discarded their special Long-Las variant and concentrated on heavy sniper rifles instead such as the Barrett M107, though they were equipped with a Laspistol for secondary combat and if a energy weapon was needed. Also the men manning the support weapons: M2 Brownings, tripod mounted Autocannons, grenade launchers, rocket launchers and sometimes Meltas -if they were available- were also generally issued with a secondary Laspistol and projectile pistol, such as Terra made Glocks or Desert Eagles, for close combat if it became necessary. Flamers, normally a staple ingredient of the support weapons given to the I.G.L regiments were discarded in the face of the Replicon foe as the flames were not hot enough to melt the Replicons quickly enough to be effective. In the armour support that each regiment had, the company of Hellhounds was similarly not employed but rather exchanged with Predators whose turret mounted an Autocannon and the traverse pintle mounts Bolters to deal with the nature of the Replicon enemy or alternatively with a Land Raider crusader. Added artillery was by it's nature (being conventional artillery pieces, smaller Railguns firing explosive rounds, multiple grenade/missile launching systems, or over-sized, movable mounted Staff cannons or Multi-Meltas) generally exempted from changes as they all worked rather well against the Replicons. Similarly in the light armour regiments, Sentinels were either equipped with Bolters or Autocannons such as the Cadian model or the Dakara models with their hybrid Imperial Plasmagun/Staff cannon that had proven to be effective enough against the Replicons, both Authen and Neo. Hydras, Whirlwinds and Predator tanks as well as several Land Speeders or Salamanders made up the rest (the Hellhound once again being discarded for it's ineffectiveness). 'Normal' armoured regiments were centred around the Leman Russ and it's variants, with Predators (this time with Lascannon to hunt tanks and to destroy any Necrodermis encountered) and Executioners bringing up the rest. Artillery regiments featured not only the Basilisk tank, but also Vindicator tanks and conventional artillery

Of course regiments being employed against organic enemies possessed the original configuration.

Normally a battalion of infantry is made up of ten companies, each of six platoons with twenty five men in a platoon. The flank companies, the first and tenth are special, with the first company being the Stormtrooper company, being equipped with heavy armour and Hellguns with an underslung grenade launcher attached to them. The Tenth company on the other hand is the light company composed of three platoons of snipers and three platoons of scouts, who in battle are sent forward in a skirmish line to blunt an oncoming attack before retreating and dispersing throughout the other eight line companies as support, while the first company's is similarly dispersed throughout the line to give heavy support and to lead the charge if an enemy position is needed to be taken by storm. Of the lines companies one platoon worth of men is dedicated to support, utilizing Plasmaguns, M2 Brownings, rocket launchers and sweeping sets who are similarly dispersed through their company aiding them where needed. As such a battalion of I.G.L. is tactically extremely versatile and can easily put up a deadly multi-layered resistance to defend a position, as well as easily shift into an attacking role, with the multi-layer command element just as easily allowing them to assemble a force of one platoon to take out an enemy position as well as utilizing a concentrated attack using elements of several companies to create a force that is exactly composed in the way it needs to be to do maximum damage to the enemy position while taking minimal losses themselves, a concept that had evolved by integrating Terran soldiers into the general I.G.L., whose high training and breaking down of tactical decisions down to the platoon level and even beyond was mixed with the tactics of overwhelming mass utilized before by the Imperial Guard in the First Imperium and the first I.G.L. regiments founded and, often as not, by the Jaffa armies who preceded them.

Hanoth was as such an important, but still growing world, awarded with a total worth of forty companies of infantry to man the cities defences, though as the number of cities and inhabitants of the cities was expected to swell, so would the amount of soldiers allocated for their defence, though already plans had been made that each city would raise it's own standing army, though equipped and trained to the standard of the I.G.L. regiments, allowing easy cooperation should reinforcements by the I.G.L. be necessary as well as any easy way to mobilise reserves for the I.G.L. in an eventuality.

A further forty companies were stationed in the total of seven fortresses on the world manning them. But as their tasks were to police and guard the valuable mines, the high speed train tracks and combat roving bandit groups as well as guard and if necessarily defend the fortress of the planet, while those companies deployed to the cities were tasked with putting down riots, guarding and defending the valuable foundries and factories as well as the space port in Trilath City and in the case of an emergency defend the cities, more troops to actively guard against an invasion, something that was both dreaded and expected due to the nature of the resources being found on Hanoth, were needed.

A full dozen regiments of Infantry regiments of I.G.L. with their added armour and artillery support as well as five light armour regiments, four armour regiments and eight artillery regiments were deployed to Hanoth, making it into a truly formidable nut to crack.

This was further accentuated by the arrival of four of the new Aegis Defence Platforms, 400m large cylinders which possessed a central Lance battery, an anti-Replicator weapon and several large and medium Railguns and Lascannon each, as well as a dozen flak batteries. These were towed through hyperspace by several Orilla class Battleships which also brought a new gift to bolster the defences of the world even more, after over two months when two of the very first Type 1 Space Combat Habitat – known to most as Halo Battlestations; Large tubes suspended around the planets equator to act as space dock and combat platform, that had been produced on Mars and Hebredia arrived. Each space station had a total hangars housing eight squadrons of a dozen I-301 fighters within each section of the outer ring, ready to engage enemy fighters at a moments notice. The entire station was half a kilometre high and a kilometre in diameter, boasting a total of eight Lances arranged like compass points on the outer circumference of the ring, allowing three to be brought to bear at any one time In addition the station also had Railguns, Plasma Cannons, P.G.G.s and anti-Replicator weapons_, _mounted along the dorsal and keel of the ring. Hangar bays are situated in the inner circumference of the ring to prevent them being taken out by a pre-emptive strike holding sixteen squadrons of I-301s with a dozen fighters each. They are an awesome sight to behold and signify the power and might of the Second Imperium of Man

With a further four Aegis Defence Platforms under construction, the fleet of a single Ragnarok class Battleship, the _Raven Feeder_, its twin Orilla sisters, the _Fell Vengeance_ and the _Othala's Revenge _ as well as their escort fleet numbering fourteen Terran Defenders, Hanoth was a truly fearsome nut to crack.

Unfortunately even while the four Aegis's were still under construction a scouting group of four Dirge class ships arrived in orbit over the fifth planet in the system, an inhospitable rock where nothing existed. Still even such a rock as this would yield resources when the scouting group was picked up by the scanners on the _Raven Feeder_.

As the Replicon ships prepared to descend to consume the world before them the defensive fleet dropped out of hyperspace and right over the three Dirges that had already begun their descent.  
The _Raven Feeder_ immediately opened fire with her Nova Cannon, the massive round vaporizing one Dirge completely. The anti-Replicator weapons mounted in the fleet fired forcing the Necrodermis to show itself, upon which the frontal weapons array of the twin Orilla class Battleships opened up vaporizing the Necrodermis and the following discharge from the anti- Replicator- weapon ending their existence for good.

By a stroke of luck the fourth Dirge class was missed by the incoming Imperial fleet and as the Terran Defenders raced to position themselves to destroy their hated foe, the Dirge ship realized that this system had to hold something valuable that the humans wanted to protected.

Just before a combined salvo of anti- Replicator, Lance and Railgun fire ended it's existence it managed to get a message away.

_+++ Found Main Imperial system, heavily defended, seventeen ships of all classes present, Enemy massed around the fourth planet holding shipyards and defensive systems,resources in ab...+++ Message interrupted by destruction of ship._

It didn't matter, the damage was done. Upon hearing that a major system of the Imperium of Man had been found, the Harbinger ordered a part of the fleet totalling nine hundred and thirty ships of which no less than one hundred and thirty were amalgamations of fighters to break off from the main advance and destroy the enemy fleet and consume the planetary system, especially as it was so obviously a resource rich system; not to mention that the destruction of a major shipyard would serve as a mighty blow to the Imperials in this sector.

Commander Lucretius, the Captain of the _Raven Feeder_, was a human who hailed from one of the technically more advanced worlds, Leantus, and who had served in the planet's defensive fleet as a commander of a small task group of patrol vessels before Leantus had joined the Second Imperium. Upon examination by the representatives of the Second Imperium during their evaluation of the new forces that had to be integrated into the Imperial war machine, he had shown to have an excellent grasp on tactics which lead to him being given command of the _Raven Feeder_ and the entire fleet defending Hanoth. He had of course been made aware of the subspace transmission of the last Dirge class, but was powerless to stop it from being transmitted.

Realizing that he had failed in his task, and that the enemy ships had not been destroyed fast enough he immediately contacted Terra via the Stargate located on Hanoth.

There at the S.G.C. Walter Harriman received the incoming call and directed it into the office of General Landry, who had been equipped with the means of holding a live feed video conference either through the Stargate or via subspace technology.

Coming face to face with the de facto proxy leader of the galaxy and the man whom Supreme Commander O'Neill had entrusted with overseeing the waging of the war against the Replicons, Commander Lucretius inwardly swallowed as only a handful of people possessed more power than the man he was now facing and to whom he had to confess his failure.

Taking in a deep breath Lucretius saluted

"**Ave Imperator, Ave Humanatas**!"

"The Emperor protects." With this General Landry returned the salute, "Commander Lucretius, what is it that you are reporting?"

"General Landry, today at 1742 hours Standard Imperial time, 247.06 M3, a Replicon scouting force of four Dirge class ships entered the Hanoth system, appearing over the fifth planet in the system. Although the _Raven Feeder_'s sensors immediately picked up the emergence of the enemy vessels and we exited hyperspace mere moments later atop the three ships preparing to descend and consume the planet, we engaged the enemy ships with the _Raven Feeder_ and the two Orilla's _Fell Vengeance_ and _Othala's Revenge_, destroying the enemy within mere moments with our weapons. Nevertheless our emergence from hyperspace and resulting fleet disposition made it impossible for the escorting fleet to directly attack the fourth Dirge. Only after a short repositioning was this done, the enemy almost immediately succumbing to the overwhelming force utilized. Nevertheless I regret to have to inform that I failed in my task and as a result the enemy ship was able to send a short subspace transmission, presumable to the enemy's main fleet. As a result of the enemy now knowing that the Hanoth contains something extremely valuable to the Imperium, it is my opinion that an invasion is imminent. Considering the strength with which the enemy last assaulted a shipyards of the Imperium and estimating that the enemy will also have noticed the presence of orbital defences around the planet this time the incoming force will probably be much larger. I respectfully request reinforcements, especially at least another Ragnarok class Battleship would do us a world of good allowing us to have a much greater of survival. And although the amount of troops already stationed on the planet's surface is large, I would still request reinforcements to make sure that the mines will not be taken, as with the amount of resources then available to the enemy victory would become much harder."

Landry's face had become increasing harder and more gaunt as he listened to the Commander's report. He knew from consulting the archives about Lucretius's abilities that the man on the screen across him, was both excellent at strategy and tactics and a very honest man. He also knew that if the Commander requested reinforcements then they were more than probably needed, and needed badly especially considering the truth of the words Lucretius had just spoken about the last attack upon a shipyard of the Imperium and the ships moored there, and the decisive defeat the Replicon fleet had suffered there. Another attack on a world housing vital shipyards to the Imperium, also protected at least by one Ragnarok class which had wrought such terrible carnage at Hidaga and with the new orbital defences put up by the Imperium having been detected by the enemy's scouting fleet, practically guaranteed that this time the attacking fleet would be far bigger than last time.

Landry made his decision then.

"Commander, I will gather ships and troops and reinforce you with them, however it may well be, that the enemy fleet will arrive before the reinforcements. Hold out as long as possible and defend Hanoth at all costs. Make the enemy bleed. If possible try and keep the battle as long and as far away from Hanoth itself as long as possible. If the enemy presents you with the opportunity to engage it away from Hanoth, maybe even outside the actual system, then use it. Even if you cannot defeat them, try and engage it in a fighting retreat making it bleed for every kilometre of space it gains. Use every and all opportunities to make them suffer! Those are the only orders I have for you. And when the time comes, destroy them utterly! Let none escape! The Emperor protects!" With this he closed he connection and the Stargate.

Upon been given his orders Lucretius was filled with resolve and began issuing orders to prepare for the coming battle and onslaught that was surely coming. Silently he vowed, that while he lived Hanoth would never fall to the Replicon advance, the Imperium had put too much effort into building up the infrastructure of the planet and it needed the products made on Hanoth desperately. Failure was not an option!

On Terra in the SGC General Landry left his office and stepped into a special elevator accessible only through a door which was made of Adamantium and which could only be opened by presenting a high level security clearance pass. Once in the lift he punched in the number of the level he wanted to descend too, and as it was the deepest most secure level a panel slid open upon which he entered his personal code.

With the code accepted Landry descended into the nerve centre of the Second Imperium of Man, the place where track was kept off all the ships and regiments of the army and navy and where the progress of every single war the Imperium currently waged could be observed.

Stepping out of the elevator, Landry encountered a forcefield where he had thirty seconds to have his retinas scanned after entering a certain area before the automatic weapons opened fire and cut him down. Stepping through after the forcefield engaged he used his pass to open the last set of heavy Adamantium doors.

Entering into the dim gloom of the room, Landry let his eyes adjust to the dark. Looking around he could see two massive tanks, each showing one galaxy in minute detail one showing the Milky Way and the war against the Replicons mainly with a few small side wars added in, while the other showed the Pegasus Irregular galaxy and the latest data-dump from Atlantis about the progress of Expedition, tentative alliances with the locals as well as their intelligence on the Wraith. This second tank was naturally receiving nearly no attention as the Pegasus galaxy while important for the eventual outcome of the war, with the Expedition launched there, there was no actually importance to the immediate war at the moment. A dozen small tanks showed singular systems which were being fought over or where the process of building up their forces was being observed. A half dozen medium sized tanks showed singular sectors and the overall progress of the war in these sectors in the grand scheme. Another half dozen even bigger tanks showed overviews of each Segmentum. Around most of the tanks sometimes just a few, sometimes nearly a dozen people were crowded discussing the progress of the war and how the Replicon advance could be halted and how ships and men were to be deployed. The majority of the people around the tanks were wearing the robes of Imperial tacticians with several other Generals and Admirals thrown into the mix

On the far side a dozen Servitors were plugged into computer consoles which kept track of where every single regiment and ship of the Second Imperium was, the state they were in, as well as how many ships were being constructed, what type they were, how far along they were, as well as receiving every bit of information regarding the production of certain metals, weapons and ammunition on every single world claimed by the Imperium in the Milky Way galaxy.

When Landry entered the room every set of eyes immediately traversed towards him. The assembled personnel knew it was something serious as normally he was sent the reports on the war's progress through a secure connection and then worked out a needed deployment of troops and ships if one was needed, tasking them through the secure connection before receiving the list of regiments and deployments for him to acknowledge and sign off. It was especially serious since on his computer upstairs General hank Landry was also capable of observing the war's progress even allowing him to zoom into a single system or sector or just have a general overview of the situation, always using the data displayed in the holo-tanks being fed to his computer in real time.

"Listen up," Landry began, "I have just received a communication from Commander Lucretius, Captain of the Ragnarok class ship _Raven Feeder_, and leader of the fleet defending the fortress world of Hanoth. He reports that a Replicon scouting force of four Dirge class ships entered the system. They were subsequently destroyed within less then a minute due to the overwhelming fire power brought against them without a single loss, and yet the Commander reports a failure, for the last Dirge apparently managed to get a subspace transmission off, which could not be blocked. Logic dictates that the Xeno ship reported the fact that Hanoth holds both shipyards and orbital defences, as well as a large fleet to defend it. Factoring in the thought that the Replicons have learned from their defeat at Hidaga, it is safe to assume that a force considerably larger than the one assaulting the shipyards at Hidaga will appear to claim this world and its resources as well as to deprive us of a major shipyards and mining/forge world. Such a loss would surely cripple the war efforts of the Imperium at least in this sector, at most in many more sectors surrounding Hanoth. Commander Lucretius has requested reinforcements both of ships as well as ground troops and I have consented. Which troops are in a good enough shape to fight a Replicon invasion within the next few days while being in the near vicinity as well as not compromising the overall defences of the sector's systems. Most importantly is the fact that Commander Lucretius requested Battleships, especially at least another Ragnarok to bolster his forces. Hanoth is a fortress world that is not allowed to fall!"

After his speech had ended nearly a dozen people, two Generals, an Admiral and the rest tacticians crowded around one of the medium sized tanks bringing up the sector Hanoth was in. Everybody knew of the importance of the task assigned to them. The Servitors clicked and searched the archives for units that could be quickly transferred to the new expected battle zone.

Not even a minute later the servitor on the right announced in its artificial voice. "Search complete. Twenty three regiments of IGL, eleven regiments of light armour, eight regiments of armour and fourteen regiments of artillery have been located within a radius of three hours of hyperspace transit of Hanoth. Twenty seven Terran Defenders, six Orilla and two Ragnarok class Battleships have also been located within the parameters. Displaying location now."

The holo tank showing the Hanoth sector suddenly lit up with a total of eighty new lights in different colours showing the ships and different kinds of troops. Aside them were the dimly lit lights depicting those regiments and ships in too bad a shape to be be redeployed as of now.

The assembled Generals, the Admiral, the tacticians and General Landry himself crowded around the holo-tank and began an animated discussion. It lasted for almost an hour before they had decided on those troops and ships to be redeployed to reinforce Hanoth as well as those who would be shifted to other worlds to still keep them secure.

As General Landry retraced his steps up to his office he clutched the list hard in his hand.

Hanoth would receive reinforcements.

Both Ragnarok class ships, three further Orillas and sixteen Terran Defenders would carry fourteen infantry regiments, seven of light armour and six more of normal armour, as well as a half dozen regiments of artillery. Hanoth was not allowed to fall, though when he thought of the new troop dispositions throughout the sector Landry's gut wrenched, in order to save Hanoth several dozen planets were left with barely any troops, often regiments had been split to allow for better coverage. It was similar with the fleet, compared to any other time the entire sector had the barest minimum of naval coverage left. He just hoped it was worth it.

Arriving in his office he was not surprised to see Walter already waiting for him to give him the list of planets he had to dial to give the various regiments their marching orders.

Looking at the list he blanched, dozens of planets had to be contacted.

**P3Y- 267 (Ardesh) 1926 hrs S.I.T. (standard Imperial time) 247.06 M3**

As the Stargate whooshed to life on Ardesh, the troops guarding it immediately trained their weapons on the event horizon, ready to repel anything that might come through it. The only thing coming through though, was a transmission which was received in the local headquarters. Here General Aaron Parker, originally a British General who had been transferred to take command of the newly formed 95th regiment of I.G.L., after the battle of Ardesh just a few days before.

The 95th had been formed by the survivors of the Ardesh garrison, those Terran troops sent to reinforce them and an influx of newly trained recruits who had arrived just two days before as had their added armour and artillery support.

Parker had experience commanding men and armour and had fought in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Colonel of the Grenadier Guards. Now he had arrived on Ardesh to take command of the newly formed 95th and form them into a cohesive fighting force and although he was still amazed at the fact of human life outside of Earth, space travel the Stargate and many of the new weapons his new command was equipped with, General Parker knew how to meld soldiers together to a working fighting force. But the orders he now received made him want to scream. The regiment had just been formed and they weren't yet ready to be deployed as a cohesively working, efficient fighting force.

Nonetheless General Landry insisted and what General Landry wanted; he got. Sighing he called for a meeting of his officers.

Assembling in headquarters Parker explained the situation to them, and why they were going to be deployed. "It does not matter that we have been formed only a few days ago, most of the men have already fought the Replicons, and even the new additions are all very well trained, we all know that. The Terran Defenders _Anvil_ and _Burning Blade_ will arrive in roughly four hours to join the _Lady Ceras_ in orbit. Then they will transport us, the 95th as well as the 43rd light armoured to the prearranged assembly point, where the fleet will gather before jumping to Hanoth. Once there we will be directly employed to the surface to guard the approach to the capital of Trilath City, a strategic important location as the Stargate is located there and all the high speed trains carrying everything the planet's other cities produce converge there. Only ten kilometres north-east of the capital there is also a large Naquadah and large iron mine. If the Replicons managed to break through, then Trilath City and it's surroundings will be one of the primary battle zones on the planet. Apparently the Replicons have started to learn and use strategy. In an attack two days ago on a other world an Immortal was seen giving orders, indeed when the Imperium's forces began to push the enemy back, he first counter-attacked and tried a flanking manoeuvre and when that failed withdrew in a defensive line, holding out so long as to construct a craft capable of taking off and escaping. Indeed the enemy commander, and as such we have to see them, not only as elite troops, seems to have learned from the battles they have fought against us. It seems their recent defeats on smaller planets and most importantly on Hidaga have made them realize that just trying to swamp us with numbers will not work any more, not now that our industry is finally starting to produce ever more war material. The question though is where they get these ideas from. Still you've got all the information you need, inform the men and get them ready to be transported into orbit. Dismissed. The Emperor protects!"

"The Emperor protects!" his offices answered Parker enthusiastically and with conviction, though the Terran officers only duly mumbled. This earned them short but intense and poignant stare from the General. He of course knew that many, especially the Terran soldiers and officers were not converts to the Imperial Creed, and as such did not worship the Emperor as a god in flesh sitting upon his Golden Throne, but they still knew, they had been briefed, that at least the new custom be observed so as to not cause any problems with those inhabitants of the galaxy who had converted to worshipping the God Emperor of Mankind.

Captain Leth'drac a former sub-commander of Kronus's forces and commanding officer of the 6th Company 1st battalion, 95th regiment went to his men's billets.

Entering the rooms where his company was billeted, called for attention. Within half a minute the company stood ordered in front of him in their four ranks, the sergeants in front of their platoons, the two lieutenants each in front of the middle of the company wing they commanded. Off to the right the Terran journalist Norman Reign and his crew, whose first live action report about the battle of Ardesh had impacted on Terra like a bomb, were avidly listening in.

"Listen up. The High Command on Holy Terra has decreed, that the 95th regiment is to be moved to the prime world of Hanoth at 2330 hours Imperial Standard Time today, to combat an expected major attack be the Replicon forces on the world of Hanoth. Get your kit ready and cleaned and get ready to move out. You will assemble at 2245 hours I.S.T. on the main plaza to be inspected. There you will also be given ammunition. We are going in expecting to be dropped into the combat zone. That is all. The Emperor protects!"

"The Emperor protects!", the assembled company roared back, giving the Sons of Sol salute, which had been adopted as the Imperial salute.

As the men dispersed, the journalist hurried towards the man he had attached himself to.

Private Jonathan O'Neill had become highly respected by his peers in the company due to the deeds done and the leadership skills he had shown in the battle less than a week ago.

Ever since the journalist had not left his side recording his everyday life and duties as a soldier in the Emperor's I.G.L.

"Private O'Neill why are you being sent into combat again. Wasn't this regiment formed just a few days ago. Are you already fit for battle?" His cameraman behind him already having the camera running and recording.  
"Listen, I have been told to cooperate with you by my commanding officer;" O'Neill replied in a rather peeved tone, "so I will. However, what I tell you now, will NOT be recorded, otherwise you can forget any cooperation, orders be damned. Got it?" Nodding frantically Reign signalled his cameraman to stop recording, desperate not to lose access to the person Reign intended to build up into a hero of the Imperium.

Norman Reign was no idiot and when he had reviewed the material of the battle that had happened here not even a week ago, he had been horrified at the gruesomeness of the pictures, the mangled bodies of those unfortunates whom the Replicon had reached, the bodies whose skin and flesh had been flayed away by the Gauss weaponry and more. On the other side he had captured O'Neill in heroic postures as he had crossed the hill leading to the neo Replicon in charge first, leading the charge under lit by the eerie glow of fire illuminating him as he waved the men forwards. Reign understood the power of such pictures and he knew in his gut that Jonathan O'Neill was exactly what the public at home needed, a hero in the making charismatic and handsome. With him as the public face of the war, interest in waging and winning this war would soar and the public would be fired up.

So he nodded and gave the cameraman the signal to turn the camera off.

Seeing the camera and the microphone without power O'Neill lowered his voice and told the journalist. "You are right, we are not yet ready and we need more time. But he said a fortress world. Fortress worlds are worlds so vital to the war effort that the Imperium will fight tooth and nail to keep control of such a planet. Only those worlds which produce vast quantities of vehicles, weapons or ammunition or things such as fuel are made into fortress worlds A massive production of raw materials or food or those worlds holding major shipyards, as well as Earth are classified as fortress worlds, although Earth of course is the centre of the Imperium and the holiest of holies, so this is a rather special case. But nonetheless it means, that the world we are now being sent to, cannot under any circumstances be allowed to fall to the enemy. And the 95th being recently founded, is not only at full strength but also possesses many veterans or at least men who have successfully faced the Replicon horde once before and triumphed. That is why we are sent into battle. They will be stripping every planet in a certain radius of as many troops as possible and ship them to this world. Believe me when I tell you, that the battle a few days ago will be a mere skirmish compared to what is coming. This will be war, total war!"

With that he straightened up and left the journalist and his team stunned and rather fearful behind as he went to get his kit in order and cleaned.

In the headquarters General Parker was looking at the weapons he had been issued with.

As an Imperial general he had been given a choice of weapons to equip himself with, always remembering at the back of his mind what he and the others who had been made Generals had been told that day by that giant of a man, Astartes Stein.

"You are officers of the Second Imperium of Man! As such you will be an example for your men of your regiment and lead from the front showing your men what delivering the Emperor's Wrath to His enemies means! You will not shirk, you will not falter and you will not retreat! Cowards die in shame! Remember you are a manifestation of His will, bringing destruction to His enemies!"

It had been a rather impressive speech and at the end, they were shown what kind of weapons they could choose from. Some had chosen Lightning Claws with integrated Storm Bolters, others a Plasmagun, still others a Chainsword or a Chainaxe. Not Parker. He had decided on twin Bolt pistols and one of the new Vibroswords that had been devised by those now termed tech-priests, the scientists and weapons engineers. The new Vibroswords were fashioned out of folded steel, similarly to an ancient katana, with an Adamantium core and a power cell that lasted years, worked into the sword just above the guard. The blade's edges were coated in thousands of smaller Adamantium teeth as opposed to Chainswords or even Eviscerators whose teeth were far larger and fewer and where brute force was utilised to break through the connections holding the authen Replicon together. The new vibroswords were more elegant and reminded people more of an ancient Katana in their making and of medieval European swords in their form. There the thousands of teeth and the immense speed were utilized to destroy an authen Replicon, to literally saw through them at high speed

Looking upon his polished Bolt pistols and the gleaming Vibrosword which was balanced perfectly and seemed near weightless to him when swung, General Parker slowly caressed the hand guard and the shining steel. This would be the first time that his blade and his Bolt pistols were to be fired in anger and he was apprehensive of the fact. Taking a deep breath he called for his adjutant, Private Harris, an American who had been a radio operator before in his former regiment and who was now the General's personal Vox operator and adjutant.

Harris took off the general's fatigue uniform, and began to put the Carapace armour the general was entitled to wear, on. Of course such a task was possible without help, but with an attendant serving in the ancient role of squire it was faster and added to the status of the General.

After the Carapace armour had been put on, the battle uniform was put on over. Then he pulled on the ammunition belt. There were two of them crossed on his back, each with ten magazines strapped to them. In battle the General could eject the magazines with a simple click on a button, the magazine would eject and he had only to reach behind and slide a new one into the now empty slot. As soon as one was used and taken away the others would slide down and the next one replaced the one just taken. Between the crossing ammunition belt, a scabbard was fixed, gleaming silver with a golden double headed eagle engraved at the top. It held in it the Vibrosword. In battle it would be drawn overhead allowing a downward slice or a parrying stroke as it was drawn. At the side of his legs holsters for the bolt pistols were fixed. Putting on him helmet and micro-bead, General Parker was an Imperial General dressed in his war finery.

Stepping outside he crossed over to the main plaza where the troops, the attached armour as well as the attached artillery were arriving, all already in combat dress and with polished weapons. Several Munitorium trucks had arrived to give the men their ammunition as all expected to immediately be in battle after arriving in-system. Other Munitorium trucks had taken up position behind the attached armour. They would hold the ammunition for resupply once the ammunition they had gone into battle with was exhausted.

General Parker started the inspection with the assembled armour and artillery pieces and their crews as they would require less time. They had also already been supplied with shells and ammunitions for their Autocannons and Bolters. Walking along the lines of parked vehicles and artillery pieces and their crews Parker noticed how shiny and new the machines looked. None had any kill marks inscribed, no battle honours and the crews were all inexperienced. He saw it in their eyes, the fear and trepidation of going into battle against an enemy whose goal was to turn every planet in the universe into a lifeless husk, gorging himself on every life and resource he could find. These crews were nervous, and their eyes showed it. Although they bravely tried to hide it, their insecurity and inexperience showed. Still General Parker nodded seemingly satisfied to encourage the men, but inwardly he wondered how many of his many would die because of their inexperience and how many of them would not live out the campaign.

With a grim sense of satisfaction though, he knew one thing. They would learn to fight and stand against the Replicon horde or they would die. This battle was going to force many in his regiment to grow up and face reality.

Within a quarter of an hour he had finished inspecting the attachments to his regiment and he now started towards his assembled regiments. They stood in four ranks in a company, their sergeants in front of their platoons, the captains in front of their company, each company in numerical order behind the other both battalions next to each other, the two majors and the colonel of each battalion standing several paces in front of their battalion. As he turned to begin the inspection Munitorium aides carrying the ammunition took their place a dozen paces behind the general.

As he walked down the assembled ranks of his regiment, Parker proudly noticed how everything that might shine on the combat uniform was dulled down. Their Lasguns were strapped diagonally on their back, the projectile weapons displayed precisely in their dominant arm (mostly right, but there were some left handed men and women in the regiment too), their combat knife in it's holster strapped to the thigh of their dominant arm for quick deployment. But most important to the general were his men and women's eyes. They spoke of confidence, of knowledge of the horror they were about to face and of their will to be not intimidated by the enemy. True the new recruits showed signs of nervousness, but that was to be expected. The bulk of his command were men who had already faced the Replicon horde and come out alive and victorious and Parker hoped that these more experienced soldiers would provide a backbone for the others in the regiment.

Following the General in a respectful distance came the Munitorium workers with the ammunition. To each soldier two packs and a string of grenades were given, one that contained a dozen power cells for their Lasrifle the other contained a dozen magazines for their rifles. The men broke this pack down and stowed the magazines in the pockets of their flak vest and in their utility belt, to which they also attached their grenades.

After nearly three-quarters of an hour of inspecting and sometimes speaking a few words of reassurance to a trooper who needed it, with a few jokes he shard with his officers and a private conversation with Norman Reign and his team inquiring on their intentions, the Vox on Private Harris's back opened up.

"Attention, this is Vox Operator Sejanus of the Terran Avenger _Burning Blade_ speaking. We have arrived in orbit and are ready to transport the 95th regiment of I.G.L. to ours and the decks of the Terran Avenger _Anvil_. The Terran Avenger _Lady Ceras_ will take the 43rd light armoured in. **Terra Victae!"**

Receiving the message Private Harris immediately commed the General who quickly acknowledged the news. Then a bright light engulfed the plaza and the 95th and the 43rd which had been mustering just on the other side of the plaza as well as the Munitorium trucks carrying the precious ammunition vanished.

The only thing remaining on the plaza were the Munitorium aides and the empty crates and the clips for the projectile magazines lying where the men had discarded them.

They would be cleared away later by Servitors.

As the Munitorium workers returned to their billets the plaza was once again empty.

After the ships in orbit had transported the troops to their decks they turned around and jumped into hyperspace. From Ardesh they needed an hour and a half to the assembly point. On board the ships the men prayed they would arrive on time.

The battle to save Hanoth was on!


	2. The battle of hanoth The Void lights up

**Chapter 2: Battle for Hanoth: The Void lights up!**

**2245 hrs (IST = Imperial Standard Time) 247.06 M3**

With a discharge of energy reality split and the massive Replicon Fleet emerged from what form of FTL they utilized.

Of the 930 ships that appeared just outside the system, one hundred and thirty were amalgamations of fighters, of the remaining eight hundred ships, no less than three hundred were Jackal class ships while five hundred ships were of the Dirge class. But unknown to the Imperium of Man only about four hundred and twenty Dirges would engage the enemy the other eighty while otherwise looking the same if only a bit bulkier than their 'normal' counterparts were different on the inside carrying surprises for the Imperial forces.  
The replicons were a result of the replicators consuming necron technology and adding it to their own though the necron technology soon took control and the Harbinger took control of the newly born replicon forces.

While understandably the focus was on the destruction of the necrodermis and the finding of a C'tan to take control of the necron part of the replicons one aspect that had made the replicators so fearsome had been nearly overlooked and forgotten.

Replicators overwhelmed their enemies with the mass of troops advancing heedless of any losses. This aspect was mirrored in the replicons where they built masses of easy to build ships, instead of relatively few exceedingly tough and deadly units as the original necrons preferred, though this was in part shown in the symbiosis between the replicator cells and the necrodermis making the neo replicons nearly impervious to any kind of fire.

But the most fearsome aspect of the replicators, ironically one with which they mirrored the humans of Terra in many ways, was their ability to adapt, this had been the cause for the near loss of the Asgard to the replicators something which had only been remedied with the building of the Ant-Replicator weapon using Ancient technology.

While the replicator part of the replicons was still susceptible to the fire of the Anti-Replicator weapon the replicons were still able to adapt to other innovations brought upon the battlefield by the Second Imperium of Man.

Imperial victories on several planets on the ground had resulted in the replicons backing off for a few days before striking surgically at several worlds and then withdrawing to analyze the situation, a tactic that had in one case resulted in the capture of an Imperial general. Utilizing their tried and tested method the former human form replicator known as Seventh had plunged her hand into his head extracting his knowledge of Imperial weaponry used on the ground and the tactics it was used with, before a shot with her gauss weapon had stripped the screaming man's flesh from his bones molecular layer for molecular layer until he was nothing but a pile of bones.

What they learned concurred with their observations on the ground. After an initial beginning where the Imperial forces were mostly made up of infantry with only a few artillery pieces and tanks encountered, this had now changed.

The Imperium had now held on long enough so that the production of tanks and artillery was beginning to show as the numbers of both deployed on the battlefield steadily grew.

Already on several occasions a group of Hydra flak tanks with some artillery support had held a small valley, their fire never letting the replicons advance nearer than twenty yards from their lines.

Leman Russ tanks had smashed apart advances in conjuncture with artillery and infantry.  
The Imperium was growing ever stronger on the ground, laying down amounts of fire that not even the masses of replicons could make it through successfully.

On the ground the Imperium was growing ever stronger and winning the war until...the replicons played their strength and adapted.

With the information ripped from the Imperial general's mind and from their own observations it was clear that to combat the flood of tanks and artillery appearing on the battlefield heavier units were needed. And so the newest replicon troops were born.

But not only did the replicons learn to adapt to the war fought on the ground but the many fleet engagements with the Second Imperium of Man had taught them to be more tactical versatile than just charging forward into the waiting guns, something that had become especially important as the Harbinger had decided to attack the Imperium on a broad front.

Whilst this had lead to quite a few minor defeats and recently a major one at Hidaga, it did have the added benefit that the Imperium was not able to concentrate it's forces in one overwhelming mass, such as before the Battle of Maroth.

The Battle of Maroth had had extensive repercussions. For one it had forced the Imperium into a strategy of buying time as the strategy of attrition no longer worked, as the replicons had managed to recover the means to create more necrodermis (though even so, the process was long and resource intensive, severely limiting the amount that could be produced). In a second aspect it had brought forward the the creation of the new battleship classes for the Imperium, the Ragnarok and Orilla classes, that had proven to be so effective at Hidaga. Furthermore the Imperium had evolved the I.G.L. into a truly fearsome and effective fighting force, fortifying towns and worlds with the new classes of space stations.  
For the replicons the Battle of Maroth meant a change in tactics, instead of an overwhelming attack on a single target, their fleet sent out tendrils of ships to embroil the Imperium on a wide front, attacking many worlds simultaneously. It also meant that necrodermis was not a finite resource anymore, resulting in the creation of more immortals and especially more replicators in the mold of Fifth, Seventh or Ninth creating beings who were capable of independent thought and as such, capable of commanding the fleet 's tendrils in the absence of the Harbinger.

Through the replicator link every replicon shared with each other, tactics the Second Imperium of Man had used against them, were relayed by survivors of said tactics and counters worked out, though one might have to add that even though a replicons body and brain reacted far faster than a humans', intuition and instinct still evaded even the most sophisticated replicon, with perhaps the exception of the Harbinger, making the replicon tactics not as flexible as desired, though the advantage of mass was sure to rectify that particular flaw.

It was such that when reality split and the replicon fleet emerged from their form of FTL, they emerged on the edges of the Hanoth system just as their commander Seventeenth had willed it.

With a mental command the fleet began to split into several parts.

The majority of the fleet, some seven hundred and thirty vessels stayed put with eighty seemingly modified and bulkier Dirges in the middle, protected by a shell of two hundred and twenty Jackals and three hundred and ten Dirges with a hundred fighter amalgamation ships interspersed throughout them . Of the other two hundred vessels that had separated from the main fleet, five groups consisting of four Dirges each broke off, spread out like the fingers of a hand and prepared to jump. The other one hundred and eighty ships took up a crescent shaped formation consisting of clusters of six vessels (two Jackals, three Dirges and one fighter amalgamation) that got thicker towards the middle.

After taking up position they waited for the mental command from Seventeenth to jump.

At 2354 hrs (IST), 267 06 M3 the command to jump was given.

The die had been cast and now the dying could begin.

On board the _Raven Feeder_ Cmdr. Lucretius was observing the replicon battle observations and preparing his own forces.

Ever since the reconnaissance force had showed up, the fleet defending Hanoth had been on alert and they had prayed to the immortal God Emperor that he may speed the reinforcements to arrive before the replicons.  
But although the foe had arrived first, the knowledge that reinforcements were not far off and at this very moment racing towards them in great strength gave them comfort and hope and steeled their resolve for the fight to come.

As such Cmdr. Lucretius and every other captain receiving the data from the outlying sensor drone platforms were quite flabbergasted at the actions that the replions took.

Seeing the formation and the separation Lucretius was the first to grasp the concept behind it and he loudly cursed the foul Xenos and their trickery.

Activating the vox unit he opened up an encrypted channel speaking to every ship under his command,

"The enemy has chosen to split his forces in the hope of hitting us with one part, while rebuilding their losses they take from the resources gained from the fifth planet in the system. This cannot be allowed to happen. The _Raven Feeder_ and the Terran Defenders _Will of Steel_, _Winter Rose_, _Arrow of Retribution_ and _Lord Exactor_ will accompany me. The other Terran Defenders will split into pairs and prepare themselves to immediately jump into the vicinity of the incoming scouting groups. The _Fell Vengeance_ and _Othala's Revenge_ will position themselves between Halo station Alpha and Halo station Beta.

I you do not manage to completely destroy the scouting forces, then return to assist the _Fell Vengeance_ and the _Othala's Revenge_. One last thing. Once we jump you all enter hyperspace and stay there until the enemy shows up, then you intercept him. It is supposed to look as if the entire force is responding to the enemy's bait. Yet only those ships I have named are to truly follow me. Once the enemy appears we will fight a stalling action. Do not do anything rash. When the reinforcements arrive, I intend them to be the hammer and us the anvil. Between us we will destroy the foul Xenos! **In the Emperor's name!**". The last sentences were bellowed throughout the vox by Lucretius and transmitted to the entire fleet, so that a roar of all the thousands serving on the ships of the Imperial fleet could hear their commanders intentions.

And as one they all bellowed back in a voice thousands strong.

"**In the Emperor's name!**"

As first the scouts and then the baiting fleet received the signal to jump and jumped, in response so seemingly did the entire fleet of the Imperials and Seventeenth on board the bridge of a Jackal class ship smiled as the baiting group appeared over the fifth planet in the System.

The smile immediately vanished as only five ships appeared in front of the baiting fleet. In confusion Seventeenth looked on to see where the bulk of the enemy forces were.

He was soon to find out.

As soon as the _Raven Feeder_ and it's escorts had fallen out of hyperspace directly in front of the thickest concentration of ships within the bating fleet, the Nova Cannon installed on the _Raven Feeder_ fired.

From such a close vicinity and with the enemy packed into dense clusters the first replicon ships stood no chance.

The massive discharge completely vaporised an entire cluster and continued onwards destroying two more Dirges and one Jackal, as well as practically shearing off half of the remaining ships in the cluster.

The Anti-Replicator weapons on the battleship and her escorts had also opened up, the precise appearance right in front of the replicon fleet proving devastatingly effective as the Anti-replicator weapons caught three complete clusters and parts of two more at complete unawares eliminating the fighter amalgamation ships and forcing the necrodermis in the other ships to show itself.

As the necrodermis showed itself the lances on the Imperial ships discharged, wiping cursed Xeno ships from existence.

With nearly a fifth of their force wiped out in the opening salvo and half a dozen ships damaged, the remnants of the attacked clusters fell back to reform themselves, while from the flanks new clusters raced forward to envelope the Imperial ships. Green gauss blasts crossed the void impacting on the void shields of the Imperial ships, the _Will of Steel_ being damaged and falling slightly behind.

In response the _Raven Feeder_ accelerated driving deep into the enemy's formation.

Then with the _Raven Feeder_ neatly surrounded by enemy ships, her escorts were left behind protecting the _Will of Steel_ and covering her back with their weapons, the battleship's mighty broadsides lit up and stayed lit.

From her weapons emplacements Anti- Replicator weapons discharged, exposing necrodermis that her lances, Asgard P.G.G.s and Plasma cannons targeted, while the replicator blocks were targeted by the battleships mighty railguns whose force smashed apart any replicator block they touched

From the Imperial ships poured their fighters engaging the multitude of fighters as the amalgamation ships broke apart into their component fighters.

Explosions blossomed around the Imperial ships signaling the deaths of I-301s, replicon dragon fly fighters and replicon ships.

Blue plasma and bright light crossed the void smashing into the replicon line that came on. In response green lightning was returned from their gauss weapons impacting on the Imperial Void shields.

The Void had lit up in a beautiful yet deadly display of energy and light.

The _Arrow of Retribution_ was hit by several gauss discharges and her shields collapsed.

Several more hits ripped away large weapons emplacements and explosions blossomed along her starboard flank. Another hit disabled her lance and with great holes from which debris and personnel poured into the void she tumbled away rotating on her axis, fires raging throughout the ship.

As electrics sparked, crewmen were charred to a crisp, an explosion in a weapons chamber caused the crystals to shatter and sent thousands of razor-sharp shards flying. A crewman who had turned around as a console exploded and set the woman operating it on fire, was hit by dozens of shards which instantly killed them. Another received a shard through his right eye and into his brain killing him too instantly. Engineer Saul Truford who was working on the crystals was engulfed by the shards and his flesh stripped from his bones.

On deck 7 in corridor E eleven men and women were engulfed by fire and burned alive,

the ammunition for several point defense railguns exploded on deck eleven killing dozens and wounding or maiming over a hundred crew members, fires had broken out by the dozen, while nearly a dozen wounds spilled equipment and men into the void.

On the bridge of the _Arrow of Retribution_ the captain was desperately clinging to his chair as another series of explosions racked the ship.  
"Send fire control teams to the most affected areas and send medics out and helmsman bring this ships back on course! Major Arrin? Can we get the void shields back up soon?" The Major a pretty woman with wavy brown hair and a slim figure, who was responsible for quite a few dreams amongst the crew, glumly shook her head.

"I'm sorry sir, but the damage is extensive, it will take an hour or more to get them back online."

Grimacing Colonel Andras, the captain of the ship, his voice betraying his worry, asked ."What about the the hyperdrive can we still utilize that?"

Major Arrin only shook her head. "No sir. Both hyperdrive and sublight engines are offline. We're near dead in space with no control over our ship."

As she delivered the damming report, Colonel Andras visibly sagged. Then he pulled himself upright and asked for the shipwide vox.

"Attention crew, this is the captain speaking. The _Arrow of Retribution_ has been hit hard and is unable to continue the fight. We have lost weapons, shields and engines. Make your peace and prepare to meet the Emperor. **The Emperor protect you!"**

Seconds later two Dirges that had made it past the deadly defence of the Imperial ships fired their weapons.

The gauss blasts tore into the _Arrow of Retribution_, reaching her hyperdrive and exploding the energized naquadah, tearing the ship to pieces.

Although with her shields down the transporters of the _Will of Steel_ managed to get some off the ship, the captain, the bridge crew and over eight hundred crew were not so lucky and went down with their ship.

With the _Raven Feeder_'s Nova Cannon once again discharging and eliminating several replicon ships while her broadsides and lances had turned many more replicon ships to dust, indeed already dozens more enemy ships had fallen to the fury of the Imperials, nevertheless the Terran Defenders were falling. With the _Arrow of Retribution_ destroyed, the _Will of Steel_ crippled (but still fighting) both _Winter Rose_ and _Lord Exactor_ were taking damage, even though the enemy was concentrating on the _Raven Feeder_ who too was already showing the first signs of battle. The battle looked hopeless, when most of the remaining enemy ships, fourteen clusters suddenly jumped out, leaving behind barely thirty five ships of which the majority was damaged.

What had happened?

Seconds after the Imperial ships had exited hyperspace and attacked the baiting fleet, the scouting groups appeared over Hanoth.

The all appeared on the near side of the planet, where the planet's two continents were situated.

The five groups were spread out evenly and instantly began to scan the defences, the planet for resources and the general make up of where the cities, mines and especially the stargate were situated.

As they came out of their strange FTL, the westernmost group immediately came under fire by Halo station Beta, whose weapons turned two Dirges into dust straight away while damaging a third and leaving only the fourth intact. The same fate befell the easternmost group, only it was completely wiped out coming under the fire of Halo station Alpha and one Aegis platform.. The next group also suffered damage as did the group immediately to the east of the westernmost station, though the damage they sustained was one Dirge destroyed in each group. The middle group suffered no damage and began recording and sending data back to the main fleet.

Then the paired Terran Defenders emerged from Hyperspace.

Within seconds the damaged Dirge of the easternmost group had been finished off and the remaining Dirge now found itself penned in between the broadsides of both cruisers. If the replicon ship had had a crew it would've been frantically trying to transmit as much data as possible, as such even so the ship recognized it's primary mission and diverted all power to sending the accumulated data so far, before it was destroyed.

The Group next to it fared little better, the damaged ship being destroyed in the initial volley. With the Aegis platform already engaging the group, the two cruisers had the group's remnant in a crossfire from which not a single ship escaped nor did they survive for long. The same went for the now westernmost group, who too died quickly in the Imperial crossfire.

The middle group, which so far had been unmolested had been jumped by two pairs of two Terran Defenders in a pincer movement. The criss-crossing Anti-replicator discharges and beams of energy from the ship's lances quickly forcing the necrodermis to expose itself, which was then duly vaporised and the remnants of the ships then blown apart by the railguns. Still the middle group managed to survive longest and did manage to not only transmit the biggest amount of data, but also managed to damaged the Terran Defender _Dread Horseman_.

On board of his Jackal, Seventeenth would have screamed in anger and rage, if he'd been a human.  
But he was not. So even though anger and rage coursed through him, they never clouded or impaired his "judgement".Instead his mechanical brain received all the information gained from the scouting groups before their destruction and analysed it.

In mere moments his brain had processed the fact that the enemy had countered his bait strategy with an ambushing strategy of his own. It processed the given information that these defensive platforms were well shielded and dangerous, especially the two large ones and that four of the smaller ones were being built. He processed the absence of the two other battleships reported initially and calculated the probability that they'd intervene and emerge in an inopportune spot for the replicons at a pretty certain 99.9 per cent (the point one percent was the allowance that humans and their train of thought always had an unpredictability in them).

With the same percentage it was calculated that the interception group for his baiting fleet would try and disengage and reinforce their brethren, something that considered the devastation this one battleship had wrought could not be allowed, especially in the light that the two larger station possessed even greater firepower considering the amount of lances that had been registered.

Finally though he received the information that the stargate was located within a city on the northern continent. Then the last part of the news was received and if he were human he would have cried for joy!  
Naquada and trinium were to be found in great quantities on this world, yet only on the northern continent, where the majority of the population and mines were located, yet even so, even with such great news even greater news was made known to him.

Neutronium!  
This planet had the ingredient that was needed to create more of his kind, more immortal warriors to do the Harbinger's bidding and cleanse the galaxy of all life in the great red harvest of the Necron.

It had been mere seconds since he had received the data and processed nearly instantaneously. To take such time was nearly unheard of (at least for a mechanical brain), yet the knowledge that the replicons would have to move fast and smash apart the heavy defences the Imperium had erected with as few losses as possible as it had already been observed that in cases where the world seemed to be important to the Imperium the humans would utilize the stargate and other technologies to call for reinforcements.

The defences the Imperium had erected were of a calibre not yet encountered by the replicons and from what those ships sent to gather information had found out, they were of a terrible potency. As such an assault would have to be both overwhelming and successful, while losing a minimum of ships, as the Imperium had surely sent reinforcements on the way that could arrive at any given moment.

Thus Seventeenth made his decision and after the command had been given the replicon ships deployed and jumped.

The next act was about to begin and death had only received an appetizer so far, now the the table would be set and the preparations were to be made so that death may feast and overindulge himself.

The replicon ships had formed up and had jumped.

Then they appeared in a blinding flash.

The replicon fleet had assumed a very unusual disposition and formation.

As the Imperial sensors on the Cruisers and Space stations swept over them a pattern soon became clear, in fact the replicon plan was clear as day and yet it possessed a frightening potency and power.

If seen from above projected on a two dimensional map, the relicon left flank was strung out in a line, each cluster of the formation acts a post in a picket line. They moved against Halo Beta and Aegis 4, the defensive platform just "east" of it as well as well as the pair of Terran Defenders the _Solaris_ and _Lunar Eclipse_, in an obvious holding action protecting the vital middle fleet and heavily concentrated right flank with the fourteen clusters that had been withdrawn from the baiting fleet, whose remnants were still engaging the_ Raven Feeder_ and her surviving escorts in a holding action not allowing the Imperial ships to disengage.

Ten clusters raced toward the next pair of Terran Defenders providing the link between the left flank and the midst.

The midst of the replicon fleet was made of the eighty bulkier Dirges escorted by ten fighter amalgamation ships as well as fifty fast Dirges and twenty Jackals covering them, with Seventeenth on a Jackal at their helm surrounded by four Dirges, leaving the remaining forty-six to cover the flanks.

At the front were fifteen more fighter amalgamation ships supported by forty jackals and seventy Dirges aiming directly for the group of Terran Defenders that included the damaged _Dread Horseman _and which subsequently held the vulnerable middle of the Imperial Line.

Ten clusters made up of four Jackals instead of two and with only one Dirge instead of three as well as the customary fighter amalgamation ship, a configuration which decreased their tactical flexibility but increased their offensive potential,branched off to engage Aegis 2, the western platform protecting the orbital factories and shipyards.

These factories and shipyards had been erected in the few months since the findings of the _Dread Wolf_ and the the subsequent declaration of Hanoth being a fortress world of the second Imperium of Man

protecting them were two Aegis platforms, Aegis 2 and 3 as well as the two Terran Defenders who protected the vital gap between Aegis's 1 and 2 which protected the vulnerable back of Halo Alpha, where the empty lances were rotated to, and the orbital factories and shipyards themselves.

The main brunt of the attack though were the fifty clusters which raced for Halo Alpha and Aegis 1 bolstered by the remaining five fighter amalgamation ships to counter the mass of fighters that Halo Alpha held.

The remaining forces, twenty Jackals, formed up into two prongs to outflank the Imperial lines to divert resources from Halo Alpha, such as discharging Lances early and Aegis 3 further splitting the attention of the Imperial fighters to protect the vital orbital factories and shipyards.

Seeing the replicon deployment on his holographic display on board the bridge of the _Raven Feeder_, Commander Lucretius (Commander as his nominal rank was that of a normal Colonel, though as commanding officer of a task force he held the brevet rank of Brigadier General, so in order to distinguish between those who truly held the rank of Brigadier General and to show that he commanded a task force he was named Commander, a rank which helped when groups of ships converged to form a single fleet, a Brigadier General would command the fleet, while assigning those experienced and tactically sound Colonels, the rank of Commander to command individual task forces or squadrons within the fleet, while still establishing a clear chain of command) asked his XO, Lt.-Col. Aras Bocage, to assume command of the ship and the squadron temporarily while he surveyed the situation and directed the remaining Imperial forces in the battle.

Seeing the situation he had to talk several deep calming breaths so as to clear his head for one and for not exploding in curses at the situation, yet in his mind he cursed the damned Xeno commander, for the situation he now faced himself in was terrifying.

The extended left flank would keep those forces opposing them from doing any good while the heavy deployment on the right flank made it impossible to take the opportunity granted to them by the extended enemy line. Halo Alpha and Aegises 1 through 3 were in dire need of support being under attack by a monster with several tentacles extending to envelop them.

Yet, no matter how powerful the right flank and attack was, Lucretius immediately saw through the tactics employed by his enemy and he cursed.

Although the right flank was no more than a massive distraction, Lucretius nevertheless knew he could not ignore it, as the Halo station and the Aegises protected the vital production facilities, something the Imperium could not afford to lose no matter the danger posed by the enemy centre which would smash through the thin defending line of Terran Defenders, one of which was already damaged, and then descend on the northern continent to consume all of the vital resources the planet held, something that equally could not be allowed.

Inside his mind Lucretius cursed, yet he knew that a decision was required of him and so he made on.

Giving the signal to the twin Orilla battleships still hidden in hyperspace he spoke through the vox to their respective commanding officers.

"The _Fell Defender _will come out of hyperspace at the junction between Halo Alpha and the tendrils trying to outflank us. She will serve as a bastion to anchor the extreme left of our line and will counter the enemy's main thrust. The _Othala's Revenge_ will take command of the squadron of Terran Defenders that oppose their centre, including the damaged _Dread Horseman_. I will try and finish these remnants of the baiting fleet off as quickly as possible or disengage to come and help you. The plan is clear. Deny the enemy! Make him bleed! Buy time for the reinforcements to arrive! **The Emperor protects!**" With that Lucretius disengaged the vox and took command of his immediate battle again, all the while praying silently that the promised reinforcements might arrive soon.

Turning to his attention to the holo-display which depicted the battle he saw that the Orillas had come out exactly where he intended them to.

Already their Anti-replicator weapons had discharged and their lances had destroyed several Xeno ships, damaging even more. He saw the display lighten up as the hundreds of fighters in Halo Alpha as well as from every Imperial ship were launched to combat the suddenly appearing Dragonfly fighters, as the amalgamation ships broke apart as intended. 

Chaos now reigned as battle was joined. The blue of Asgard P. was joined by the red of lascannons firing as the Replicons closed the range. All of it was underlit by the bright light of lances discharging, thousands of miniature explosions as bolter and railgun rounds detonated which were ever so often blackened out as the Orillas fired their torpedoes and miniature supernovae blossomed. The Imperials were merciless and fighting like men possessed. In return the beautiful deadly green of Gauss weapons firing, lighting lashing out from Dirges at the Imperial fighters and the beautiful, hypnotizing dull matte silver of the necrodermis showing itself were contributed by the Replicon armada as they returned fire with the coldness of machines.

In quick succession the quite a few jackals and even more Dirges were lost to the furious Imperial barrage. The answering fire lit up the Void shields of the Imperial ships. Yet for all of their ferocity and bravery the Imperium was losing.

Though the_ Raven Feeder _was the uncontested master of her fight, she was unable to disengage from the fight, the nimble replicon ships staying just in range of her weapons while still being able to intercept and disrupt any attempt of Lucretius to open a hyperspace window. In desperation Lucretius ordered both the _Lord Exactor_ and the _Winter Rose_ to leave the _Will of Steel_ to her own devices and to support him. When the orders reached the ships' captains they all knew what that meant. The _Will of Steel_ would probably perish, a sacrifice for the Imperium and the survival of the Imperial citizens living on Hanoth. Realising this the captains steeled their hearts and gave the orders to advance.

The _Will of Steel_'s captain, Lieutenant- Colonel Drusus Terrok activated the vox.

"No matter what happens we will fight to the last! Even if we were to fall, our souls are safe in the Emperor's protection. **Ave Humanatas! Ave Imperator!**"

Then as the two still largely undamaged Terran Defenders raced forward to help their larger battleship brethren, Terrok surveyed the scene of the battle on the holo-tank before him. The _Will of Steel_'s few remaining I-301s were still desperately trying to shield the damaged ship from Dragonfly pattern fighters but were slowly being destroyed one by one.

With the addition of the _Lord Exactor_ and_ Winter Rose_ the Imperium's forces were pushing the replicon forces in this part of the battlefield back, the aggressive move having pierced the shell of replicon ships giving the initiative back to the Imperium.

Piercing the shell of the damaged Dirges and Jackals that had been harassing the _Raven Feeder_ the two Terran Defenders sudden offensive forced several enemy ships out of the way to evade their activating broadsides. Unfortunately for them for quite a few ships the only way away from the lethal Imperial broadsides was towards the Ragnarok- class ship they had been harassing.

Finally seeing her chance the Raven Feeder's broadsides once again lit up, targeting the enemy ships that so thoughtfully positioned themselves into harms way.

Already damaged from the battle and only intended to be a harassing force by Seventeenth, the Dirges and Jackals that now found themselves being targeted by every weapon in range the Ragnarok- class ship possessed, were ruthlessly destroyed.

Now with nearly a dozen enemy ships cleared out of the way, the _Raven Feeder_ was finally abale to rejoin the main battle.

But when Lucretius surveyed the battlefield he was shocked, a massive hole had appeared in the Imperial line and the replicons were exploiting the gap and ruthlessly pouring through.

What had happened?

What nobody had ever thought of, was the fact that the Imperium would one day have to fight a defensive, static battle.

This sort of battle was the worst that could happen to a force of Terran Defenders, as they were simply not designed for such a feat.

Despite their size, with the inclusion of Asgard technology, the Terran Defender was a very fast and agile ship, a fact that complimented its terrifying frontal array of weapons. Modelled after the Space marine Strike Cruisers, the Terran Defenders had been designed to break an enemy's line of battle and then either finish him off with their broadsides or forcefully land ground troops on the enemy planet. This kind of fighting a battle was further accentuated when production had been ramped up, and Segmentum High Command had taken a leaf straight out of Terra's history books and equated the terran Defender with the German U-Boot of WWII. Copying the tactics employed by the German submarines in that war, the Terran Defenders were grouped into "Wolf Packs" during battle, a configuration which was terrifyingly effective and which let them tear huge chunks out of an attacking Replicon fleet.

This tactic was even employed on the defensive, Terran Defenders utilizing their speed and agility to outflank and outmanoeuvre the enemy.

With the development of the Orilla- and Ragnarok-classes of battleships, the Imperium now had a secure way of anchoring their fleets by creating such a deadly kill zone by the armaments of the battleships, that the cruisers were now free to counter-attack, outflank and tear the enemy fleet apart, something which had been demonstrated at Hidaga.

On their own though, holding a line statically, with only their frontal weaponry to bear on the enemy (which was not too great as the Terran Defender had been constructed as a line-breaker and as such was pretty sleek and slim), the Terran Defenders were severely outclassed by the mass of enemy ships bearing down on them.

Although they had the help of the hundreds of I-301s from Halo Alpha which also turned the immediate space surrounding it into a kill zone, no Replicon ship had yet made it through.

Aegis 2 was doing it's best to herd the enemy into a funnel that the Terran Defenders frontal weaponry (especially the lances) were able to cover, while the four Terran Defenders protecting the orbital factories and Halo Alpha's back were blasting away at the enemy with fanatical fervour.

Dozens of replicon ships were destroyed or damaged, being herded into kill zones and unable to mount an effective resistance.

And yet...

Despite the losses the xeno fleet suffered, despite how uncoordinated at first their response was, still arcs of green lighting arced from the enemy ships to smash into the frontal void shields of the Terran Defenders, slowly but surly eroding them.

This was further accentuated as after a while the simple mass of Dragonfly pattern fighters forced the I-301s back.

Now was their chance!

With an effective fighter screen in front of them, this part of the Replicon fleet now formed up into a vast three-dimensional wedge and, keeping out of Halao Alpha's kill zone, they charged the thin line of Terran Defenders which were forced to stand and fight, bereft of their advantages, standing ready to receive the worst the Replicons could throw at them.

They received it.

The charging wedge was met by wave upon wave of Anti-Replicator-Disruptor wavesexposing the necrodermis. Frontal mounted lascannons and railguns added their weight of fire to the vast, bright beams of deadly light that were the lance batteries.

And yet it did not matter.

Lances are not like other energy weapons, but rather need to be "reloaded", thus there existed a time when after a lance had been discharged, it was far safer to approach a Terran Defender frontally.

Which is what the Replicons did.

Sacrificing their frontal ranks to the Imperials fury they nevertheless pressed forward. With the wedge growing wider the longer it got, the death of the ships in the front ranks had only served to bring even more ships to the front, an acceptable exchange in the eyes of Seventeenth. The replicon fleet tendril replied and the mass of green lightning and gauss discharges raced towards the Imperial ships where it struck the frontal void shields.

For a moment it seemed as though the shields might win the battle with the amount of energy pounding upon them and lightening them up.

Then a second volley struck the Imperial ships and in a shower of sparks and an explosion in a multitude of colours the shields collapsed.

A Terran Defenders hull is thick and its prow is armoured even more heavily in the typical Imperial fashion imported from the First Imperium of Man.

Yet even so, the unholy energies arcing along the hull and discharging upon the prow were too much for the Imperial construction.

The Terran Defender _Blade Runner_ was the first to die, it stood in the centre of the formation and was hit by over two dozen gauss blasts and arcs of lightning within less than a minute after her shields had failed. Her front practically disintegrated under the amount of xeno fire, a further blast splitting her open like a gutted fish. The _Scorpio_ was next, her prow was mangled beyond recognition and the lightning arced along her starboard side with such force that the dozens of wounds from which air, equipment and crew spilled let her tumble uncontrollable towards Halo Alpha. The _Intrepid _ruptured and blew up, glowing like a brief but bright star. Only the _St. Lucia_ survived the onslaught, though was damaged extensively and limped away trying to find safety with the group of Defenders clustered around the _Othala's Revenge_, dozens of surviving I-301s escorting her behind the _Metalicana_ and beside the equally damaged _Dread Horseman_.

Through the breach the Dirges and Jackals poured. Aegis 2 turned into a sun mere moments later, and with the Imperial line now broken, the fleet that had achieved this splitting, with one half attacking the now vulnerable back of Halo Alpha and the area with where the empty lances were rotated to, with only the Halo stations other weapons and the still remaining mass of I-301s standing between Halo Alpha and annihilation.

The other half, and this was worse, now spread out, damaging the vital orbital factories but more importantly creating a safe passage for the invasion fleet.

Although Seventeenth had originally planned on smashing the Imperial centre and thus forcing a landing, with the Imperial left broken and a massive hole appearing within, he was nevertheless quick to capitalize on the opportunity which presented itself.

While half attacked Halo Alpha an the remnants of the Imperial left wing, the other half ot the victorious fleet had outflanked the Imperial centre and pinned it against the planet.

Shifting those rather chunky looking Dirges and their escorting Dragonfly pattern fighters to his right, Seventeenth brought the invasion fleet safely past the Imperial guns and as the fleet took up position upon the vital and important northern continent, it broke apart, half a dozen smaller fleets burning through the atmosphere, ready to gorge themselves on the rich resources Hanoth offered.

All this Lucretius had seen.

Leaving the remaining two Terran Defenders behind to deal with the remaining xeno ships (the _Will of Steel_ having finally succumbed to enemy fire and resembling nothing more than a mangled and twisted piece of metal tumbling through space), Lucretius brought the _Raven Feeder_ into the space between Aegis 3 and Halo Alpha. There, although he had failed to prevent an invasion, his Ragnarok- class battleship could nevertheless counter-attack and hope to drive into the enemy fleet linking up with the group around the _Othala's Revenge_ and relieve the pressure and danger to Halo Alpha, allowing it to be more effective.

It was an even more desperate strategy than the one he had devised before, yet Lucretius had no other option, though in his mind he was already praying to the Emperor and all his Saints to speed the relief fleet.

**Fleet assembly point, 30 minutes travel from Hanoth 2345 hrs (IST) 247.06 M3**

With a flash a hyperspace window opened and disgorged another three Terran Defenders. These three ships were the last of the relief fleet to arrive. On board the Ragnarok-class _Valkyrie_, which acted as the fleet's flagship, the fleet's commanding officer General Thomas

In the _Valkyrie_'s Strategium General Thomas reviewed the situation over Hanoth relayed to him via the stealth probes orbiting the planet and which sent accurate replications of the battle via subspace to Sector Command and Segmentum Command, in cases such as with Hanoth where a prime world was threatened, the battle's rendition was even sent to the main Strategium loacted on Holy Terra under the SGC.

Being the CO of the relief fleet for the beleaguered planet, general Thomas also had access to the relayed data, so that he may utilize his relief fleet to maximum effect.

What he saw did not endear him. The situation was barely contained and even worse the enemy had managed to break through and force a landing. The space battle had just become far less important.

True, if they won in space they would be able to help the ground troops through orbital bombardement, as well by beaming every single replicon the ground forces missed to a pre-prepared spot where they could be finally annihilated.

Still, even if they won in space, if they lost the battle on the ground Exterminatus would be unavoidable and considering the worth of Hanoth...

Thinking about the problems he now had to deal with, General Thomas peered at the holographic rendition of the battle raging over Hanoth.

As much as it pained him, he had to see where exactly the Replicons landed in order to plan the counter assault, or at least the containment.

As the situation crystallized and the situation on the ground became ever clearer, especially concerning the actual strength of the enemy troops that had deployed at each LZ, Gen. Thomas smiled a grim smile as a plan took form in his mind.

Activating the fleet- wide vox he relayed the plan to the ships captain, instructing them exactly where they would come out of hyperspace and deploy their troops.

It took quite a while and by the time the command to jump had been given the new day had long since begun.

**0010 hrs (IST) 248.06 M3 Terran Defender **_**Burning Blade**_

Norman Reign and his television crew had received flak armour, several grenades (ni-ex and shrapnel both)and a P90 with eight spare magazines just as every other regular member of the I:G:L from the _Burning Blade_'s armoury.

It made him decidedly uncomfortable, yet he knew from experience just how brutal and unforgiving combat was, even more so as the words spoken by Private O'Neill 'They don't care if you live or die!" had been completely true.

While those who hailed from Terra were envied due to their heritage, they were not given any favours in His Imperial Majesty's Imperial Gate Legions. This went doubly for non-combatants who embedded themselves into the army to get good pictures of battle and war.

In fact the experience that Reign had gone through just a few days prior had opened his eyes somewhat to the new reality of the state of the galaxy.

The Battle of Ardesh which he had documented and taken part in a few days aga had been both a terrifying and yet exhilarating experience.

Terrifying because of the dead and their bodies that had been flayed apart, mangled and spiked from embedded relicon blocks utilized as ammunition or jusst simply torn apart by the crab-like appendages of the enemy "troops". Never in all his most horrific dreams had he thought, he'd see so much blood and death and yet...

And yet when he had fired the weapon that had been thrust into his hands by O'Neill into the seething mass of enemies it had felt good. He had felt rage and hate, yet the feeling was good, it was directed at the enemy and he had had the knowledge that what he was doing was worthwile and right, for these enemies deserved no mercy for they would give none.

Then when he had seen O'Neill leading the charge over the ridge secretly his heart had soaed and he knew, this was a true hero of the Imperium. And by god, he swore himself, he Norman Reign would make sure that everybody knew it!

Thus he had latched himself to O'Neill and was now talking to the man who he'd make sure who'd be a hero for the Imperium and those at home when he was finished.

"So Private, you said that a prime world of the Imperium was under attack and that this battle would make the battle fo Ardesh look like a skirmish. Why is this so?"

inwardly cursing his luck, O'Neill nevertheless was under orders to be friendly to the reporter and cooperate and even have an eye on him in the upcoming battle!

So he answered with a reluctant sigh.

"What you don't seem to have realized yet, is that this is a completely different calibre than Ardesh. Ardesh is a small world, not unimportant, but not too important either. Hanoth on the other hand is a prime world. This means that the Imperium will do almost everything to keep it and no amount of losses will matter. You will also for the first time see the full might of Imperial Armour. The battle for Ardesh was fought by infantry, now we have tanks, APCs, self- propelled guns and more on our side and believe me the enemy is also bound to have several new and nasty surprises on their side. Also on Ardesh we faced ONE Neo-Replicon. You can bet your last ha'penny that this time there will be a shitload more of the damn things! Every battle against the replicons is to the death and the bitter end, but this time it will be a true maelstom of battle and believe me, neither you, I or the entire regiment are too precious to be sacrificed. If they have to do so to keep the world, they'll do so in a heartbeat!" towards the end his face and voice had become grim and hard and Reignknew in his gut, that this was going to be a VERY different story than Ardesh.

Suddenly the ship's vox blared and called the men and women of the regiment to attention. In a loud voice it ordered them all to assemble in ranks and prepare for combat as they would enter the Hanoth system soon.

Standing up from the boy he had just occupied O'Neill ran to get into the ranks. Norman reign and his team too pushed their way through the mass of people and stood behind the ranks of the company O'Neill was part of.

Suddenly the ship lurched and once again they had entered real space.

The Imperial fleet came out of hyperspace with loaded lances and immediately fired if the opportunity presented itself.

Yet mostly the Imperial ships were racing at full speed ahead in several smaller groups.

Taken by surprise the Replicon ships milled about in confusion shortly before Seventeenth pulled his ships back. The landing had been a success and hundreds of Dragonfly pattern fighters were already in the atmosphere, where they were now joined by I-301s and Al'kesh bombers ready to wrest supremacy of the shies back into Imperial hands.

Now with a massive and angry Imperial fleet bearing down on them it was wiser to retreat, reform and then counter attack.

The Battle for Hanoth had just entered a new phase!

Finding themselves and the Munitorium vehicles carrying their supplies suddenly on the planet's surface and in the company of other regiments, General Parker looked upon his handheld dataslate where he was and what the battle plan intended them to do.

Communicating with the other commanding officers of the other Imperial regiments in their part of the continent, Parker gave the order to deploy as per order and the 95th Imperial Regiment spread out.

Several companies (four) stayed behind to act as reserves and guard the spare ammunition.

The others spread out in a great wave, the support units dispersing throughout the regular companies, while the light companies raced forward as skirmishers. In a textbook manner the attached armour formed evenly spread supporting spearheads while the artillery took up positions on the rockky hillside they had been deposited on.

Standing upright in his Command Salamander, Parker saw his regiment link up with the 124thon his right and the 211th on his left, with the 19th Light Armoured supporting the left (due to the more uneven ground there) while the 22nd Armoured supported the right flank of the advancing tide of infantry.

At the back and dug in was the 16ht Artillery regiment dug in.

Looking forward he saw them:

The advancing replicon tide that wanted to sweep them away and gorge themselves on the rich naquadah mines they were protecting.

Motinoning to his vox officer Parker, who was in overall command, contacted the Artillery and gave the firing order.

As the first shell screamed overhead and exploded within the replicon ranks in great explosions, throwing up gouts of Earth, parker contacted every single unit under his ommand on the general frequency.

"For the Imperium! For the Emperor! For Mankind! Forwards!"

And the Imperial tide obeyed.


End file.
